Follow a leader, Bush tells America

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Admitting no doubts, the President may yet persuade voters he is hope's standard bearer.

The day before George Bush addressed the Republican convention, he watched it on television with New York firefighters who presented him with a firefighter's helmet bearing the title "commander-in-chief". In accepting his party's presidential nomination on Thursday, there was never any doubt he would invoke the terrible events of September 11, a day that has defined his presidency. After a week in which he had uncharacteristically reflected on why the war on terrorism could not simply be "won", President Bush was back "on message". Casting America as a nation ordained by God in its fight for liberty, he painted a sweeping vista of historic successes across the globe. Just how sweeping is evident from his single reference to Israel and Palestinians as he outlined the advance of peace and liberty across the "broader Middle East".

The commander-in-chief is, however, also a politician locked in a tight contest with the Democrats' John Kerry only two months out from the election. President Bush knows his father was a one-term president who also led the nation into war (which remained popular) but lost the confidence of voters by mishandling the economy. Despite a gradual recovery, more than 1.1 million jobs have been lost, many in states that will decide the election. The US Census Bureau recently reported average wages were static, while the number of people living in poverty (36 million) and without health-care cover (45 million) hit their highest levels since 1998. Although many of these people do not vote, President Bush could not ignore unease about the economy - hence the revival of an old theme, "compassionate conservatism". He devoted the first half of his speech to education, health, welfare and jobs. Yet his was a broad-brush picture of better times ahead, devoid of the difficult details of policy and a record federal deficit.

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Perhaps even more seriously for the Bush campaign, the turmoil in Iraq has caused Americans to question the wisdom of a war begun on the false premise that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction at the ready. Earlier speakers had attacked the war's critics in such a heavy-handed way that one might almost have expected the commander-in-chief to order Americans to re-elect him. Instead, his speech subtly emphasised his leadership qualities, personal flaws and all, above his Administration's decision making. Directly addressing voters, he said: "Even when we don't agree, at least you know what I believe and where I stand." Unlike, he implied, Mr Flip-Flop, John Kerry. One can discern a speech's priorities by where it starts and finishes: for President Bush, this was September 11 and the war on terrorism. "I will never relent in defending America - whatever it takes," he said. The gap between the rhetoric and reality is often wide, but when one listens to George Bush's words, ringing with resolve and a distinctly American sense of optimism, one can understand why he is still very much in the presidential race.